HOUSTON, April 27, 2012 – H. Julia Hannay, the John and Rebecca Moores Professor of Psychology, has earned the University of Houston 2012 Esther Farfel Award, a symbol of overall career excellence and the highest honor UH bestows on a faculty member. The annual award carries a cash prize of $10,000.

“The Farfel Award is a high honor recognizing the many roles that we may have as professionals, as mentors, teachers, scholar/researchers, clinicians and administrators reaching out to the local, national and international communities to different degrees in our varied careers,” Hannay said. “The UH has afforded me the opportunity to strive for excellence in those roles in the multicultural environment that is so important to our future.”

Hannay is the fifth female to receive the award since it began in 1979. Hannay is a clinical neuropsychologist and also a pioneer in the field of experimental neuropsychology, deriving paradigms for studying cerebral specialization and assessing cognitive functions in normally developing children and adults and in clinical populations, such as spina bifida, stroke and traumatic brain injury. She continues to work on issues pertaining to assessment of acute status in brain injury and long-term outcome hoping to spend time on rehabilitation research.

“Dr. Hannay is a household name in our field. She has been one of the leaders of our field for the past three decades and has achieved all of the major successes – being elected president of the International Neuropsychological Society, leading the landmark workshop that established training credentials in our field (the Houston Conference in 1997) and contributing to the book that is the ‘bible’ in our field,” said Daniel Tranel, a professor in the department of neurology at the University of Iowa.

Hannay is also a fellow of the American Psychological Association. Hannay recognizes mentoring as one of her greatest professional achievements, having chaired many master’s theses and doctoral dissertations in the years that she has been at UH.

“Dr. Hannay’s program development and mentoring students stand out as two of her greatest legacies,” said Linda Ewing-Cobbs, a UH graduate and professor in the department of pediatrics and director of the Dan L. Duncan Children’s Neurodevelopmental Clinic in the Children’s Learning Institute at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. “The highly nationally ranked clinical neuropsychology track of the clinical psychology program at the UH has benefited greatly from this legacy.”

Hannay is associate chair of the department of psychology and has been adjunct professor at the Baylor College of Medicine with privileges at Ben Taub General Hospital in the department of neurosurgery since 1988.

“Dr. Hannay directed the prestigious clinical neuropsychology training program at UH from 1987- 2010, widely identified as a model for specialty training in psychology,” said Jack M. Fletcher, Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor of Psychology. “Dr. Hannay’s efforts at teaching and training could have reduced her research productivity, but she has not compromised in her pursuit of excellence. Dr. Hannay has brought major recognition to research and training at UH.”

One of Hannay’s former program students, Kimberly Andrews Epsy, now vice president for research and dean of the graduate school at the University of Oregon, said, “Julia is an outstanding scholar – the true ‘triple threat’ – an outstanding researcher, teacher and someone who is passionately engaged in the local, national and international communities. Julia recognized where clinical training trends were going, established relationships all across the Texas Medical Center for partnerships in research and training, and focused on scientific research as the base. Her international standing and dogged determination made these connections possible. Today, the UH program is world recognized as the premier program in clinical neuropsychological training. I am honored to have been a student in the program, and the excellent training I received is the basis for my own scientific accomplishments.”

UH also honored numerous other distinguished faculty members for teaching and research excellence, community engagement, advising and mentoring undergraduate researchers.

JOHN AND REBECCA MOORES PROFESSORThis five-year renewable award is given to faculty who are outstanding in teaching, research and service. The recipient is awarded a $10,000 annual stipend.

Cynthia Freeland, philosophy

Kevin Rigdon, theatre and dance

TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARDS

Teaching ExcellenceThis award is given to faculty in recognition of outstanding achievement in teaching. Faculty nominees must be tenured or tenure track who have been in residence for at least two academic years prior to nomination. Recipients are honored with a trophy and an $8,000 prize.* Tim Cooper, biology and biochemistry

Adam Gershowitz, law

Stephan Hillerbrand, art

Samantha Kwan, sociology

Jeremy A. May, chemistry

Robert B. Shimko, theatre and dance

Provost’s CoreThis award is given to faculty in recognition of outstanding teaching in the Core Curriculum. Faculty nominees must be tenured or tenure track who have been in residence for at least two academic years prior to nomination. Recipients are honored with a trophy and an $8,000 prize.

Todd Romero, history

Innovation in Instructional TechnologyThis award is given to faculty in recognition of outstanding achievement in teaching using innovation in instructional technology. Faculty nominees must be tenured or tenure track and have recently taught a course using instructional technology. The recipient is honored with a trophy and an $8,000 prize.

Ognjen Miljanic, chemistry

Instructor/ClinicalThis award is given in recognition of outstanding teaching by faculty instructors, clinical faculty, research faculty, artist affiliates and lecturers. Faculty nominees must have been on the faculty at least half-time for three years prior to nomination. Recipients are honored with a trophy and an $8,000 prize.

Pam Balthazar, mathematics

Barbara A. Carlin, management

Sarah Kielt Costello, art history

Sharon marquart, modern and classical languages

Donna L. Pattison, biology and biochemistry

Lawrence r. Williams, biology and biochemistry

Community EngagementThis award is given to faculty who involve students in service to the community through service learning activities or community engagement projects. Faculty must be full-time faculty who have been in residence for at least two academic years prior to nomination. The recipient is honored with a trophy and an $8,000 prize.

Jeff Morgan, mathematics

Graduate Teaching AssistantThis award is given to graduate students in recognition of outstanding teaching. Graduate student nominees must have held teaching responsibilities for at least two academic semesters. The recipients are honored with a trophy and a $3,500 prize.

Marc Anderson, biology and biochemistry

Luz E. Vela, biology and biochemistry

Group Teaching AwardThis award recognizes clusters of faculty in both formal and informal programs who demonstrate a strong commitment to teaching and student success, who have worked together collaboratively to improve student outcomes and who demonstrate effective and innovative teaching. One award is designated for a faculty group demonstrating longitudinal teaching excellence in an undergraduate core course or series of courses. The other award is for a faculty group demonstrating longitudinal teaching excellence in an undergraduate or graduate course or series of courses that show evidence of improved outcomes of student success and retention. Each teaching group is honored with a group trophy and a cash prize of $30,000.

Flavia Belpoliti

Marta Fairclough

Debra Frazier

Anel Garza

Eugenia Ruiz

Career AwardThis award is given to a tenured faculty member who has demonstrated excellence in teaching over the course of his or her career at the University of Houston. The recipient must have been on the faculty at the University of Houston for at least 20 years. An award in this category may only be presented once to a faculty member. The recipient is honored with a trophy and a $12,000 prize.

H. Jerome Freiberg, curriculum and instruction

Distinguished Leadership in Teaching ExcellenceThis award is given to a tenured faculty member who has made sustained and significant contributions to education. Faculty nominees must be full-time tenured faculty at the rank of associate or full professor, been on the faculty at the University for a minimum period of 10 years and must have won a University of Houston Teaching Excellence Award. The recipient is honored with a trophy and a prize of $25,000, divided into a $15,000 cash award and $10,000 in departmental support.

Sara McNeil, curriculum and instruction

EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP AWARDTwo awards at the associate professor rank are presented to those individuals who have established a growing record of outstanding research, scholarship, or creative contributions. At the time of nomination, individuals must have at least three years of service at the University of Houston. Two awards at the assistant professor rank are presented to those individuals who have demonstrated great potential in research, scholarship or creative endeavors. Each recipient receives a trophy and a $5,000 prize.

Professor

Ed Hungerford, physics

Gangbing Song, mechanical engineering

Associate Professor

Kresimir Josic, mathematics

Blake Wilkin, music

Assistant Professor

Margaret Cheung, physics

Tim Cooper, biology and biochemistry

FACULTY AWARD FOR MENTORING UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHThis award recognizes a demonstrated excellence in supporting undergraduate research efforts and encourages mentoring relationships with undergraduate students. This is a career award which is open to faculty members from all departments. The recipient is honored with a trophy and a $5,000 prize.

Lynn Voskuil, English

PROVOST FACULTY ADVISING AWARDThis award is given to a faculty member who demonstrates excellence in undergraduate academic advising. The recipient is honored with a plaque and a $1,000 prize.